Tag: high school

Question of the Day

By readyallrow August 27, 2015

So I just finished my novice year as a rower. I was the shortest on the team but had one of the best 2k’s and was bow seat of the medaling regionals boat. However, now that I am JV and am starting to think about the future I’ve been thinking that my future would be brighter as a coxswain. I’ve never coxed a race but I’ve coxed at practices when needed and I’m pretty decent at it. I am a 15 yr boy and about 5’5 and I really am not sure what I should do. I know that I could row lightweight but I feel like I have a much better chance in the future like varsity and college as a coxswain. I love rowing and coxing though. My question is how would you recommend making a decision about switching to coxing or to keep rowing?

I think it all comes down to what you want to get out of your rowing experience (“rowing” as in the general sense of the sport). If you decided to stick with being a rower but were limited, for whatever reason, to being in lower boats would you still be happy? Would you still enjoy coming to practice every day and helping to make your boat fast? Or, would you feel like you were missing out on something? Some people are perfectly happy rowing in the 2V or the 3rd 4+ and that’s awesome but there are others who aren’t and want more … and that’s cool too.

If you switched to coxing, you’d essentially be starting at the bottom of the totem pole – or at the very least, as close to the bottom as you can get without being a brand new, straight off the shelf novice coxswain. This usually isn’t too appealing to people but it sounds like you have the benefit of being a solid rower on your side so that could/would make the transition a little easier and maybe open up some opportunities early on to cox some of the upper boats, which is always great when you’re just starting out as a coxswain. If continuing the sport in college is a goal though it’d be ideal for you to make the switch now rather than in a year or two, at least in my opinion, because it gives you plenty of time to figure out how to do everything and do it well. If you try to make the switch at the same time as you’re starting to really get into the nitty gritty of looking at schools, taking the SAT/ACTs, going on visits, etc. you’ll just be miserable.

So … I guess what I’m saying is that my recommendation for making this decision ultimately comes down to what’s going to keep you excited about showing up to the boathouse everyday. Keep in mind too that if you’re only 15 then you likely still have a few years of growing ahead of you. It’s worth asking your doctor about the next time you stop in for a checkup or physical. If you’re 5’5″ now but are projected to top out around 5’11” then that might impact what you decide to do. I think it’d be worth having a conversation with your coach too before the fall season starts (assuming you aren’t back at school yet) since they’ve likely seen other rowers in your position before and can offer up some good advice based on what they’ve seen them do.

College Coxing High School Racing

Coxswain recordings, pt. 31

By readyallrow July 21, 2015

7k row to the basin

A high school coxswain emailed me this recording a couple weeks ago so below is the email I sent her with some feedback. In her initial email she also included her own comments on what she thought of her coxing (PS I love when you guys do that because it helps me narrow in on what you think you need to work on), which included things like “my coxing started very calm but in the middle it was similar to how I would have coxed a sprint race”, “I never mentioned the time and pointed out only some of the landmarks I should have”, “I have lots and lots of calls about the legs”, “Some of the focus 10s were not for anything in particular and were just moves”, “10 in 2 would be more effective than 10 here in some (most) cases”, etc.

Here’s what I said:

“I agree that your intensity level did rise throughout the piece but I think that’s fairly natural. I do the same thing when I’m coxing long pieces like this, as do other coxswains that I know. I think as long as you’re not super obnoxious about the changes in your tone or volume it’s not a big deal. I thought this was fine though.

I like the “reel ’em in” call too. It’s a good way to say “get after these guys” without actually saying that. Regarding the “10 in 2 vs. 10 here”, I agree that it’s more effective, especially in long pieces like this where it’s easier for them to zone out, to give them a bit of a warning and either say “on this one”, “in two”, or whatever so that at the very least they’ve got one stroke or so to get ready to execute whatever you’re calling for.

If you notice the intensity starting to fall off, at the very least make sure they’re still rowing well. Focus purely on their technique for 20-30 strokes if you have to but make sure that even if the pressure is falling a bit that they’re still rowing at a high level. Sometimes I notice that when I back off the typical power calls and just focus on technique, the power gradually starts to come up a bit on its own … not necessarily to where it was before but enough that I notice it and can then say “Yea, there we go! You see how we’re starting to push those puddles away again? That’s just from adjusting our posture and making sure our body prep is set early. Let’s take five now to really emphasize the swing and get the shoulders set. Ready … go!”

I like doing 5s for each pair or 5s for each four during longer pieces like this. It’s something different and gives you a chance to focus on the individuals a little more than you otherwise would. Plus it gives them a little bit of personal responsibility for those five strokes. You executed this very though so good job. I liked your tone, the calls you made, etc. I’d do it exactly like that during a race if you decide to incorporate that as a move of some kind.

I also noticed that you made a lot of leg calls but I think as long as you’re diversifying them and not making the same leg call over and over then it’s OK. One thing I would practice the next time you’re out though is making calls for other parts of the stroke. To kinda force yourself into doing this, I would try something like this: for one entire practice, anytime you want to make a call for the legs, pause for a second and come up with a call for something else. The calls could be for puddles, sharp catches, smooth finishes, posture, body prep, long recoveries, bending the oars, blade height, getting max reach, etc. The goal is to not make ANY calls for the legs and instead make calls for everything else. The legs are a really easy thing to make calls for and are what a lot of coxswains default to (myself included) so every so often you’ve gotta take yourself out of that comfort zone and force yourself to do something different so that on race day you’ve got a wealth of calls built up that you can pull from. You actually already do a great job of calling for a variety of things so just consider this as a new challenge to continue building your skills in that area…

When you call for focus 10s, I would instead call for focus 5s. 10 strokes is too long to “focus”, especially during hard pieces like this, and 5 usually ends up being more effective anyways.

You do a great job of consistently giving the rowers information (and you already know what you need to give them more of – i.e. time, landmarks, etc.) and your overall tone is fantastic. Like I said earlier, don’t worry too much if there’s a gradual shift in intensity as the piece progresses. Something else that I really appreciate as a fellow coxswain is your self-awareness. I like that you listed out your own comments on your audio because that shows that you’re actually invested in what you’re doing and are keeping yourself accountable. Another thing I liked was how you clearly and concisely yelled at the other coxswains to tell them where you were as you got close to them. That’ll come in verrrrrrry handy if you’re racing at HOCR.”

University of Delaware 2015 Dad Vail Men’s Varsity 8+ Petite Finals

Jake, the coxswain of Delaware’s heavyweight 8+, sent me this recording after Dad Vails and it really blew me away. Easily one of the best recordings I heard all season – actually, I think this is the best I heard all season. Here’s what I said in my email to him with a few additional bullet points below that.

“This is really good – your intensity, tone, calls, etc. are on point. I feel like I’m nitpicking just trying to find stuff to critique. The one piece of advice I have is when you make a call like “walk away, walk away”, “it’s time to go”, “time to break off UNC” (great call btw), etc., immediately follow that up with a 5 or 10-stroke push just to carry over the momentum from your call. When I make a call like that I want the rowers to immediately think “yea, let’s go!” and since I know they tend to get a burst of energy from that I want to capitalize on it by immediately following up with a 5 or 10-stroke move to do whatever I just said to do, be that to walk away from the field, put away another crew, etc. If you say “it’s time to go” and then there’s crickets after that then it’s like “OK … I’m ready to go … tell me what to do …” and you kinda lose the opportunity to make something happen. You also run the risk of another coxswain hearing you say “walk away!” and them thinking you’re calling a 10 so they call their own 10 to counter the move they think you’re making. That can backfire on you if they end up getting a seat or two out of it. (The only reason why I say that is because I’ve done this to other coxswains before and if you’re down a seat or two and do it at just the right point in the race you can pretty much kill their momentum and take the race from them.)”

In addition to everything I said up above, I really like the simple “assault” calls he makes throughout the race. This is something I think a lot of younger coxswains have to learn/remember – every call you make doesn’t need to be a full sentence long and every call doesn’t have to be “a call”. More often times than not you can easily get away with saying something simple like “assault” and that will convey the same exact message as “OK guys, this is where we get after it and start taking back some seats”.

Another thing I really liked was the build up into the sprint starting with the “10 at base” at 4:55. I like how he calls the first five of that ten, says “assault”, then starts the next five with “next five, bow ball”. THAT is what I mean when I say to simplify your calls and cut out all the excess. You know exactly what he wants and how many strokes you have to do it and it only took four words to communicate that. Now, what I really liked about the sprint was how he transitioned into it. At 5:12 he says “shifting up to a 38 over two … shift one, shift two …” and then they hit it. I like the simplicity. If you’re trying to figure out how to get your crew to shift up at the end without doing a big build or anything (or alternatively, you’re only going up two beats and don’t need five to build into it) then I’d definitely suggest trying the shift over two and seeing how that works. (PS If you haven’t read this post on “in” vs. “over” vs. “on” check it out so you understand the difference between all three and make sure you explain it to your crew too. In, on, and over do not mean the same things!!)

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

Coxing High School Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow July 5, 2015

Hi! I just started coxing a novice summer competitive program after rowing for one year at a different club. There are four coxswains, and it was originally three with the girls coach and one with the boys coach, because there are three girl coxswains and one boy coxswain. The team usually has boys cox boys and girls cox girls, but the boys coach has recently been having me cox the boys too and he keeps implying that he would want me to cox boys in the fall. Problem is, I weigh in between 99 and 103lbs depending on the day, so I’m a bit too far under the boys’ weight minimum. I’m comfortable at my weight, but should I consider putting on a bit of weight to cox in general or is that weight usually fine for coaches? Thanks so much!

Coaches very rarely ever care if you’re under the minimum because it’s one less thing they (and you) have to worry about. Obviously putting on muscle is never a bad thing but unless it’s something that gets brought up by the coaches, I wouldn’t worry about it (especially since you’re a novice coxswain too). If you feel like you need to gain some weight then you can explore that avenue if necessary but I wouldn’t do it just because of where you are compared to the 120lb minimum.

College Coxing High School Racing Recordings Rowing

Coxswain recordings, pt. 30

By readyallrow June 25, 2015

MIT 2015 IRA Men’s Varsity 4+ Repechage

I haven’t posted any of our recordings on here (they’re all on YouTube if you wanna listen to them) but I wanted to post this one because I think it was our varsity coxswain’s best recording of the season and I’m really damn proud of that for more reasons that I can count. I wish I could remember everything I pointed out to him when we initially watched this after the race but that was a month ago so below is a recap of what I assume I told him.

The whole starting sequence – start, high 20, transition to base – was really well executed. He started off the year/season drawing his calls out to really annoying and unnecessary lengths so to finish the season really crisp like this is a huge improvement. I also really like how we started doing the shifts down to base. I honestly don’t remember if this is something we talked about or if he just started doing it on his own but adding in that second shift really helped clean up that transition and make it a lot smoother.

It still annoys me (in the most minor of ways) that he calls a “ten to establish (the rhythm)” right after the start but if you’re going to take a ten for something at that spot, calling it for rhythm isn’t the worst thing to choose. (As long as it’s not for power – you have no idea how much this makes me rage.) One of the things we/I really harped on this season was not relying on 5s and 10s to get across whatever you wanted them to do. Instead of calling numerous 5s for catches, finishes, legs, etc. just make the call for a few strokes and then move on. You don’t need to take a burst just to get them to do something. My point there is that instead of calling a 10 to establish the rhythm I would have just gone straight into “legs long, legs loose” for a couple of strokes because just counting out the strokes doesn’t establish the rhythm, you’ve gotta actually back it up with legit calls.

Prepping the crew for an oncoming wind gust is always smart so I like that he saw the gust coming at 1:16 and said “wind gust on this one”. This is probably the best footage I’ll be able to get from a coxswain’s POV of what the wind looks like so if you’re still trying to figure out how to read the wind, look at the ripples in the water immediately before, during, and after he makes that call. The wind had been picking up throughout the reps (there were three total) but it stayed pretty much a cross-head the entire time. You can tell it’s a headwind because the boat is going into it (vs. a tailwind where you’re going with it) and the diagonal pattern of the ripples indicates that it’s a slight crosswind, meaning that the wind is going perpendicular-ish to the course instead of straight with the lanes (in which case it’d just be a direct head or tailwind).

A couple strokes later you can hear BU’s coxswain say “I’ve got bow ball”, which could easily have been disastrous for us (and if it was earlier in the season it probably would have been). I like how he handled it though. He’ll probably say that he didn’t hear her or wasn’t paying attention, thus what I’m about to say is totally irrelevant but I like that he just said where they were on BU, that they were walking, and to stay relaxed and poised. From there he makes the call to get the boat set (the crosswind wasn’t helping us there) and they immediately took a seat back on BU. The calmness in his voice throughout that segment is not something I would have thought was possible a few months ago, or at least not something that could be executed that well, so I’m really, really proud of how he handled that. (But like I said, he’ll probably say he had no idea what BU’s coxswain was doing so I’ll just pretend that what I said was his plan all along.)

As they come into 750m and he says “let’s walk up and pass, I’m on 2-seat, get me bow man…”, that’s a perfect way to call that and is another good example of what I mean by simplifying your calls. All you’ve gotta do is tell them where you are and where you wanna be and that’s it. The only thing I wish he would have done after that five was to tell them whether the move worked or not (by either saying “got the bow man” or “they held their margin” or something easy like that).

At 1000m I like the shift in his tone. I was getting a little worried initially when I listened to this that his usual fire during the body of the race wasn’t going to be there but it came out here and stuck for the rest of the race, which was good. All his calls through this section are great, especially the “now keep the attack” that he finished off with. I also, obviously, love the “that’s bow ballll” call. That 20 plus the small moves for each pair that he followed up with are, I’m convinced, what secured our position for the rest of the race. Couldn’t have asked for better execution here.

The “five for each pair” move is something we’d been working on throughout the season and it was getting to the point where I was so frustrated with it that I almost told him to just stop doing it because he could just not go from pair to pair without freaking monologuing between each one. It was driving me nuts. (You can hear this in the Sprints recording I think.) He did a great job calling it here though. I love the transition from stern pair into all four with the “establish dominance, 5 strokes for open” call. (400ish meters ago we were down two seats and now we’re going for open … can’t ask for much more than that.)

The ten for length at the 500 was kinda the only thing that I wasn’t super happy with, only because his calls didn’t match up with what he was asking for. Taking a ten for length there is a great idea and something we definitely needed but if you’re gonna call it for length your calls have to match that and his were a little all over the place. I liked his tone and everything, just not the words themselves.

When he made that “drop them” call at 5:31, this aggression was what I was waiting for and he brought it out at just the right time. The end of the race always makes me a little nervous because he’s not the most reliable at calling the finish – sometimes he nails it, other times he’s way off (ahem … Princeton) – but he did fine here. In any other situation casually calling the extra two like that probably wouldn’t have worked, especially if the race was close, but we were ahead by enough that it didn’t make a difference. We were in a position to advance by open water so whatever. Not something I’d recommend though – if you’re gonna call last five or last ten, make sure it’s actually the last five or last ten. Practice this whenever you do pieces so you can get used to gauging the distance between when you make the call and when you cross the line, that way there’s no question on race day that you’re calling the correct number of strokes to the line.

Kent School Boat Club Women’s Varsity 8+ at st. andrews

This coxswain sent me her audio a few weeks ago so below is part of my reply to her. This is one of the better recordings I’ve listened to from this past season so definitely check it out.

“Tone, volume, intensity, calls, etc. throughout the entire race were solid. I wouldn’t change a thing. You got a little repetitive with the “twist” call but I think you had a good enough variety otherwise that it doesn’t matter too much. In the future you might consider incorporating in some alternatives to “twist” (“rotate” is one that I use a lot), that way you’re still communicating the same thing just with a different word so as to not get too monotonous or repetitive.

Another thing is it seemed like you stuttered over the names of the crews a couple times when you were giving the girls your position – if you’re not 110% sure of who is in each lane then just say their lane number. When I race I only call the name of the top one or two crews that we consider our biggest competition and everyone else I just refer to by their lane #s, that way I don’t risk tripping myself up in the middle of a call if I can’t remember who is where. I feel like when you’re in a groove of coxing and then you stutter over something like a crew’s name it can throw off the momentum a bit (or at the very least knock you our of your zone) so that’s always something I try to avoid.”

At 2:56, I love how she called “No mercy one, no mercy two…“. The intensity is great (there’s nothing like a good “no mercy” call to really stick the knife in) but I like that she sandwiched them between counting out the ten. Making simple but occasionally deadly (for the other crews…) calls like this are a great way to get just a liiiiittle bit of extra punch on each stroke.

Other calls I liked:

“I just lit the fuse…”

“You don’t mess with us ’cause we’re the best…” (Cocky? Hell yes. A great call? Oh hell yes.)

Oxford Brookes vs. Brown University 2014 Henley Royal Regatta Temple Challenge Cup Final

I got an email about this recording a couple weeks ago asking my thoughts and it said: “Both my crew and coach love the coxing here, but the other cox at my club, who’s very experienced and has coxed the [redacted the very prominent team name] eight, doesn’t think the coxing is great – he reckoned they would have won regardless. I wondered what your take on it is?” This was my reply:

“Personally I do like this recording. I think the other one (the Abingdon – BH one) is better but this is still in the upper echelon of recordings that are out there. Something I’ve heard a lot of people say is that he was a little over the top and should’ve acted like he’d been there before, which I definitely see and agree with (to an extent). At this level I think having a coxswain like him can only add speed to your boat so regardless of whether they would have won or not, I don’t think that should really change how he’s coxing them. The only real thing that I didn’t like was he was a little repetitive for me, although I think that’s just a general difference in style between the UK and the US.”

Now, make no mistake, I love this recording. Our V8+ coxswain even borrowed some calls from it this season. The main thing I hear people have spirited discussions about is how over the top he gets and like I said, I get that and can see how it might annoy people but to me it’s not the kind of “over the top” that is offensive or asshole-ish. There are PLENTY of recordings I’ve posted on here where you can argue that the coxswain is being “over the top” during the race but sometimes that’s just part of coxing. As long as you’re not being unsportsmanlike, does it really matter how into it you are as long as you’re still steering straight and communicating clearly?

The takeaway for coxswains from this recording is the Beyonce levels of flawlessness in the execution of the race plan. They grab the lead right from the very beginning and just pile it on from there. The bladework at the start is excellent and the gradual build in volume he has as he’s calling “legs loose” really sets the tone early. You can tell they have a plan going into this because the moves and his calls just flow really well throughout the race. It doesn’t feel like anything he’s saying is being come up with on the spot, which is rare since you’re not usually in a position (at this level, let alone at this regatta) where you’re far enough ahead of the other crew(s) that you don’t have to worry about deviating from your race plan.

He makes a lot of rhythm calls (and announces them too…), in addition to encouraging the rhythm by the way he makes the calls so if that’s something you’re looking to work on definitely listen to this. There are lots of spots throughout the recording where he does this and they’re very easy to identify. (Plus, you should be able to pick this stuff out on your own anyways without someone else pointing it out to you.)

I like how he said “Take it all in, feed off of it…” as they’re coming through the spectator area at 6:56. This is a great call for those regattas where you can feel the energy from the spectators and you can hear them screaming as you approach them. Never underestimate the power of the crowd to give your crew an extra surge at the end. Bring that energy into the boat and make it work for you.

Last thing is that “end them now” call at 7:45. I love this but what really seals the deal is the finger point he does as he says it. I did this once and my coach told me it was the most demoralizing thing he’d ever seen a coxswain do to the rest of the field so I’ve always had an affinity for psychological fuckery like this. Wisco’s V8+ coxswain did this to our eight when we raced them back in May and when they came up to collect their shirts I told him in front of our coxswain how much I respect coxswains that have the balls to make moves like that. Luckily our cox knows me well enough to know that it wasn’t a dig against him so it was cool. Laughs were had later.

To me, stuff like this is the ultimate sign of confidence. Some people probably/definitely think it’s cocky and it absolutely is but it does waiver between being the good kind of cocky and “you look like a dick”. Being cocky is fine (and necessary) to an extent but at some point it crosses the line from being legit to being compensatory and it’s always obvious when you’re compensating for something (usually a lack of confidence more than anything else). No coxswain would ever do the “shut them the fuck down now” finger point if they weren’t 10000% sure that their crew was executing everything exactly the way it needed to be done and that their position in the race was unquestionably secure. This isn’t one of those things that you can do every race though. This is one of the ones that you do once, maybe twice in your career. The moment’s gotta be right otherwise you do just look like an asshole.

Other calls I liked:

“Legs loose…”, mainly the way he says it

“Stay relaxed as we hit the gust … stay loose … stay loose …”

“Keep moving in this rhythm, in your rhythm…”

“10 months, every erg, every session, together, for this one fucking moment…”

“Drop the knees…” Good alternative to most “legs” calls.

“200 remaining, ready … steady … go for the Temple win!“

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

High School Q&A Rowing

Question of the Day

By readyallrow June 23, 2015

Hi!! I’m 5′ 2” and I’ve been rowing all throughout middle school. I don’t think I’m going to grow anymore. Can I still be a successful rower in high school?

Some of it depends on the competitiveness of your team. I had several friends in our LW8+ and V8+ that were 5’1″ – 5’3″ and that worked perfectly fine for us as a pretty competitive SRAA school. If we were part of a more competitive club program like the top end crews at Youth Nats then they’d probably all be coxswains or bow seats in the 2V or 3V. Different programs want different things in their athletes so it’s important to keep that in mind.

Even though your height can limit which boats you’re in as you get more competitive, at the junior level it’s not really as big of a deal. Being successful or not being successful isn’t going to be because of your height though. I know it sounds cliche but the time and effort you’re willing to put in will be a much bigger deciding factor. So yes, to answer your question, you can be 5’2″ and be a successful high school rower but if you want to stay with crew beyond that then switching to lightweight full-time (if you aren’t already naturally there) or becoming a coxswain will probably be where you’ll find most of your opportunities.

Coxing High School Novice Q&A

Question of the Day

By readyallrow May 6, 2015

Hi! First off, your blog is so helpful! I’m finishing off my novice year as a rower this spring, but I am switching to coxing full time for the fall season. Do I get another novice year as a coxswain too? Second, my coach told me to only touch the rudder when the blades are in the water, and I understand that. But does that mean that I touch it for the drive, put it to straight on the recovery, and then touch it again on the drive? Or should I only touch it once on the drive and that should be enough? Thanks!

It’d be best to ask your coach because I feel like most teams do “novice” a little differently, at least based on the questions and stuff I’ve been asked through the blog. On my high school team if you were a rower you could “repeat” your novice year if you were only able to complete X% of the spring season. I can’t remember the amount specifically but I think it was like, if you only raced once or twice and/or had something that prevented you from participating for more than half the season (grades, medical issues, etc.) then you were allowed to be a novice again the following year. As a coxswain though, it never mattered if we were novices or not when we had that boat. In addition to the other boats I had, I coxed the novice 8+ my freshman year, my senior year, and once or twice my sophomore year when their regular coxswain was out. It’s kind of like masters rowing – there’s different age categories for each class but the coxswain’s age doesn’t count. We viewed coxing novices the same way and there was never an issue at the regattas we attended. In your case, my guess is that since you’ve already rowed for a year but have never coxed that you’ll probably be with the novices simply because you’ll all be “new” in the sense that they’ve never rowed and you’ve never coxed (full-time), even though you have a year of rowing experience under your belt. Talk with your coach(es) though, they’ll be able to tell you for sure.

Steering on the drive is the standard rule of thumb but every boat is a little different so you’ve gotta find what works for you. When you’re racing or doing pieces you should definitely only be steering on the drive since you want to minimize how much you’re disrupting the set but during practice, it’s really not that big of a deal if you steer on the drive and recovery as long as you tell the rowers so they can adjust their handle heights to compensate. (I briefly mentioned that in the post linked below too.)

As far as how to steer on the drive, yes, you typically touch it on the drive, go back to straight on the recovery, and then touch it again as necessary on the subsequent drives. This is also known as pulse-steering. Personally I think it’s annoying and tedious which is why I don’t do it. Unless I’m racing I’d rather just hold the cable through the drive and recovery of one full stroke rather than pulse steer for two or three. Like I said though, find what works for you and stick with it. Some boats are a little more touchy so pulse steering works fine but for others, like our Empacher, you basically have to hold the cable as far up as you can through the full drive and recovery (and occasionally say a few Hail Mary’s) if you want to make any of the turns without ending up in the middle of the river.

Coxing High School Q&A Teammates & Coaches

Question of the Day

By readyallrow April 10, 2015

Okay so I just need someone else’s opinion other than my coaches and rowers. So I am a dude coxswain for a girls boat for all 4 years of high school, but now I feel like they don’t respect me anymore. They don’t listen when I say hands on or they complain and talk back. We did awful in our first race and now I don’t know what to do. The guys are begging me to cox them and they are winning races. Do I stick with the girls and finish off my high school career or go for the gold with the guys?

Being a guy that’s coxing girls is tough no matter how long you’ve been doing it. I’m curious why things have suddenly changed in your last season together though. I assume you’ve tried talking with them one-on-one or as a boat to figure out what’s going on … ? If not I’d get on that. You need to figure out what the actual problem is, the part you’re playing in all this, etc. and start fixing it like, ASAP. The problem you’ve got is that with a month and a half (give or take) until the end of the year it would look kinda shitty if you suddenly jumped ship and left them for the guys team. On the flip side though, it’s not worth it for you to keep coxing them if the relationship is beyond repair, so to speak, and you (potentially) have a better shot at having a good season by switching over. (Obviously it’s not fair to the rowers either if things aren’t working out – they deserve a chance at a good season too.)

One thing you have to be careful with (and something that might be alienating you from the women, which is why they’re not listening to you) is getting too caught up in the “grass is greener on the other side” mentality and making it super obvious through your attitude that even though your body is in their boat, you’re not really all there because you’d rather be with the guys. If they hear the guys “begging” you to cox them and you not saying “sorry, I’ve already got a boat” that’s gonna make them question your loyalty and in turn become less loyal towards you.

This is definitely a tough decision but I think the deciding factor is going to come down to you having a conversation with your boat and figuring out whether or not you can all work together to finish out the season. Hopefully everyone is just stressed and there isn’t a bigger issue bubbling away under the surface but you won’t know unless you ask. You also have to consider whether or not there’s a coxswain on the women’s side that can replace you. My guess is if there isn’t and you decide to switch your coach/rowers will be super pissed (which may or may not bother you) for leaving them hanging. If you’re in a position where there’s someone who can easily transition into your boat and after talking with your rowers things don’t look like they’re going to improve, talk it over with your coach and see what your options are. If there isn’t someone that could take your place and cox that boat at an equal or higher level than you currently are then you should really consider sticking with them and working out whatever issues you’re having. Unless you’re planning on coxing in college and really need the time/experience in a boat that runs like a well-oiled machine, I think it’s better to stay with the women. You have to think about what you want out of your last season but you also have to consider what’s best for the team and unfortunately those two things don’t always line up.

Keep in mind, my answer is based only on what I assume is a very small part of much larger story. If I knew all the details my opinion might be completely different. I just think that given the short amount of time that is left in the school year and the fact that you’ve already spent four years together, it just makes sense to work out whatever issues you have so you can make your boat go fast. That doesn’t mean you all have to like each other, just that you have to respect what each person is bringing to the table. If you feel like you’ve lost their respect, figure out why/how and start doing something different.

College Coxing High School Novice

Some things to know as a novice coxswain

By readyallrow March 3, 2015

One of the most frequent emails I get from novice coxswains is some form of “I’m new, tell me everything I need to know, kthxbyeee“. Well, first of all, I can’t do that because everything you need to know isn’t always (or ever, really) at the tip of my tongue and even if I could, you’d remember maaaybe 5% of it. Second of all, stop it, it’s really hard to help you if you ask super general questions like that. Like, I understand that you’re clueless about this stuff but you’ve gotta narrow down your cluelessness to a few specific things at a time.

About a year ago someone posted a thread on Reddit asking “what are some things a novice coxswain should know” and then specified by saying “what are some things that I should learn, bring, and do to carry out my job better?”. I initially wasn’t going to reply because, as you can probably tell, generalized questions really irritate me but I liked the follow-up question so I responded with the following three pieces of advice:

Learn

The drills the coaches like to do before you get in the boat. This means asking them directly what the drills are, what their purpose is, what you should be focusing on when you do them, etc. Talk to the experienced coxswains about how to call them. Bring a notebook and write it all down because you. will. not. remember it if you don’t and then you’ll have wasted everyone’s time.

The names of the people in your boat and what seat they’re in. This might change day to day but it’s your responsibility to know who is where before you get on the water. Calling people by their seat number kinda gives off the impression that you don’t really care enough to learn their names or who’s in what seat.

How to keep your personal relationships with the rowers off the water and outside of practice. (Elaborated a bit on that here.) On the water and at practice you’re not their friend or enemy, you’re their coxswain. That means that you need to learn how to treat everyone equally regardless of your relationship with them (positive or negative).

Bring

A positive, “let’s get shit done” attitude every day, even on the days when you feel like shit.

A recorder every single day you’re on the water. Listening to yourself and getting feedback from others is how you improve.

One more layer (for top and bottom) than you think you’ll need and a waterproof jacket and pair of pants to put over everything. You’re stationary for pretty much the entire duration of practice which means you’re going to get colder faster than everyone else. You can always take layers off if you get too hot but you can’t put on what you don’t have. The waterproof stuff is great even when it’s not raining because inevitably there will be some splashing, waves if it’s windy, etc. In May when it’s warmer it’s not such a big deal but you don’t want to be sitting in the coxswain’s seat, not moving, with wet clothes on.

Carry (in something like this, this, or this)

A notebook (and writing implement of your choice). Before you go out, write down the lineup and get the workout (or at the very least, the warmup) from the coach. Ask questions and take notes on anything you don’t know/understand once they give it to you. After practice is over, write a quick summary on how it went, what you did, what did you specifically work on (calls, steering, etc.), etc. When you get home, go through it again and fill in any details that you didn’t write down before. Refer back to this frequently so you can see the trends with your boat(s), keep track of any technique issues that individual rowers have problems with (and how/what to say to fix them), etc.

A 7/16 wrench because you never know when a nut and/or bolt will need to be tightened.

Spare band-aids, alcohol swabs, Neosporin, and athletic tape because when rowers get a blister they rival toddlers in their ability to whine incessantly so having stuff on hand to take care of them will just make your life easier.

Something else that someone said that I think is especially important to learn and internalize early on in your career is that yelling as loud as you can is not the same as having authority or being a leader. You’re not automatically a “leader” just because you’re named a coxswain – it’s something you have to embrace and grow, nay mature, into and negatively embracing the Napoleon complex mindset is only going to hurt you.

In that same vein, don’t be that coxswain (or rower) that tries to rally your teammates against the coach because you think after three or four weeks you suddenly know more than us. Everyone has their own leadership style that they grow into with time and experience so don’t dig yourself into a hole right off the bat by assuming that everyone will look up to you just because you yell loud and tell them what to do.

That pretty much covers the basics but if you want to know more, check out these posts.

Making improvements as a novice coxswain

Body language, coxing, etc.

Steering and docking

Earning respect and how not to piss off your rowers

Basic gear for novice coxswains

Image via // @rowingrelated

College Coxing Ergs High School Recordings

Coxswain recordings, pt. 28

By readyallrow January 22, 2015

Erg room coxing clips montage

This is some audio from inside the erg room where the rowers were doing 500m pieces. As you can hear she gets pretty technical while coxing them. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – all her calls were pretty good – but just make sure that what you’re saying fits the purpose of the workout. You obviously don’t want to be coxing their technique while they’re doing race pieces or vice versa. And as always, make sure you’re adhering to the golden rule of coxing rowers on the erg: don’t cox those who don’t want to be coxed.

What I liked about what she was doing is that she coxed them on land just like (I assume) she would in the boat. Just because you’re inside doesn’t mean you have to do anything different and that’s where I think a lot of coxswains feel like they fall short in the winter. This is a great opportunity for you to practice your calls, test some new ones (specifically as they relate to individual technique issues/tendencies), and play with your volume and tone. On top of that, maintaining that consistency from the water to the ergs is really great for helping the rowers become used to your style and calls.

Marist University 2014 Spring break Training trip, pt. 1

There are a lot of really positive things to point out in this video, the first of which is his overall voice and tone. For those that have asked for good examples of that “coxswain voice”, this would be a great one. Remember though, that “voice” doesn’t really have anything to do with your actual voice, your volume, or anything like that – it’s more about what you say and how you say it (assertively, confidently, etc.). One of the things I like in particular is that, similar to the GW recordings, there’s a clear difference between his “calm” voice and his “get the fuck after it” voice. I think that’s an important thing to establish early on and definitely something that should be cemented by at least your third year or so of coxing.

When I was emailing with this coxswain I asked what happened at 0:37 and this is what he told me: “The comment was directed at a fishing boat that was out of the picture. We had been getting waked out all week by fishing boats and this guy thought it was funny to try to wake us as we went past.” People like that are the worst and for some reason they do think it’s really funny to wake out rowers but it’s always best, especially for junior crews, to just not engage them (even if/when they do deserve to get flipped off).

I like the “Right on 28, take it with relaxation and composure…” call at 0:57. This is one of the things we spent a lot of time in the fall working on so I’m definitely going to steal this call and use the next time I’m out. If you try to muscle the blade through the water and yank on it every stroke you’re not going to accomplish anything outside of slowing down the boat’s speed so it’s important for the coxswains to make little reminder calls like this, particularly during rate changes, to reinforce staying loose and getting the power through the drive with the legs.

At 1:12, this is something I tend to do when I’m doing pieces like this. Even though they might not technically be competitive pieces … let’s be honest, they kind of are. I like to take advantage of being able to see the other boat and make calls like this to my crews, either to give them a bit of a boost or to keep the momentum going that we’ve already built up.

At 1:16 he makes a call to the starboards to get the blades in because they’re getting pulled around by the ports – don’t be afraid to say this to your rowers. I’ve encountered way too many coxswains lately that don’t or won’t speak up in situations like this and it’s driving me crazy. If they want you to steer straight then they have to row in a manner that allows you to stay off the rudder as much as possible and that’s something you need to communicate to them if you find that you’re constantly having to make steering adjustments to compensate for some less-than-stellar rowing.

“…big back ends” at 2:09 is a good call for the finish to reinforce the draw through with the arms and having a smooth transition between the legs and upper body as you complete the stroke. It’d also be a good alternative to the “squeeze” call.

Between 3:01 – 3:05, this is just good, smart strategy. When you’re on the outside of an upcoming turn and you’re close to another crew, you want to neutralize whatever advantage they’ll get from having the inside line before you actually get to the turn. In a race this would have been a good spot to take a 20 to move. You can hear him get frustrated at 3:30 because the other coxswain’s not turning – sometimes you’ll find yourself in that situation and you’ve just gotta roll with it. It’s obviously gonna throw off your turn because you’re stuck on the outside but it’s your job to adapt and move on. There’s no need – especially in a practice situation like this – to vocalize your frustration to the rest of the boat. Ultimately this was a super minor inconvenience with no real consequences so injecting that little bit of negative energy into what has otherwise been a pretty good row is just unnecessary.

A couple of you have asked what “hacking” means (you hear him say “don’t hack…” at 3:31) and in the simplest terms it’s basically the same as not going directly to the water and instead rowing it in, except in a slightly more aggressive manner than normal since you’re probably rowing at some kind of high rate and/or pressure. You’ll definitely know it when you see it if you get a chance to see a side-view of a crew. It can be tough to see from where we’re sitting but if you know someone is doing it or hear your coach say something, make some calls about staying light on the seats, being direct to the water, anticipating the catch, etc.

5:15, I love this. In our email I asked Chris what the rationale was for taking three strokes instead of say, five per pair and this is what he said: “The 3 strokes down the boat was something that the guys in my boat and I talked about my freshman year. Not really sure what started it or how it came up in the boat meeting but it has been something that has stuck around with me since then. The guys really like it and it’s just a quick way to get everyone focused and helps us hit that next gear. One thing that we had talked about off the water is that when that one specific pair is “on” for those 3 strokes, the other 6 guys have to back them up because they know it’s their turn soon and they know their teammates will do the same for them. That’s sort of the reason why it’s 3 instead of 5, keeps it quick and simple and doesn’t gas anyone too much. We do it in races sometimes if I think it’s necessary or want to switch things up (mostly when we are even with a crew and the guys start to focus on the other crew and not what is going on in our boat).”

Last thing to pay attention to is how he coxes them through the strokes after the piece ends at 7:10 – reminding them to stay sharp, maintain the ratio, not worry about putting any pressure on the strokes, etc. Rather than making a super vague call like “stay in time” or whatever, try to incorporate in more active calls like those ones to keep the crew engaged and continuing to row well even after the hard strokes are over.

Other calls I liked:

“Just fuckin’ tap it along…”

Marist University 2014 Spring break Training trip, pt. 2

At 0:54, when he says “hold it up” I asked if he made that call for the set, stroke rate, pressure, or something else and he said: “The “hold it up” call was, again, something we had been working on all week. Our 4 seat had just switched to port after rowing starboard his whole rowing career. He was having a lot of trouble holding his finish through and the boat would crash to port around the back end. It was just a little personal reminder to him to stay connected throughout and not lose hold of the back end.”

I like that “pick each other up” call at 1:57 just as a reminder to everyone that the rate’s only going to come up if the entire crew goes after it and, as he said, backs each other up. I’ve made similar calls in the past as a nod to my stroke to let them know that I got their back and that getting the rate up is a collective thing, not just one person’s responsibility. If you notice your stroke getting frustrated with the rate, calls like this are always good to toss in.

Did anyone else notice the tape under the stroke seat’s inside hand? I asked about that too and Chris said: “The tape is actually raised in the middle and he puts his pinky just on the outside of the bump. His grip tends to slide wide throughout the piece so he marks it to make sure his grip stays where he wants it. It is also a bit superstitious, as most of us are. He actually rows with all of the oars and whichever one he has the best piece with is then “his” oar for the spring season.” I thought that was a pretty good idea and a neat hack to try if you’re having similar issues with your grip.

You can find and listen to more recordings by checking out the “Coxswain Recordings” page.

High School Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Snowflake Regatta carnage

By readyallrow November 17, 2014

What the actual hell…